304 



Joiinial of Agric lilt lire . [8 May, 1907. 



if ever attacked. The eggs are laid in the fruit by means of a very sharp 

 needle-like organ called the ovipositor borne on the extremity of the abdo- 

 men of the female. The maggots are soft, yellowish white in colour, some- 

 what shining and limbless worms, and somewhat resemble those of the meat 

 fly. The pupa and chrysalis are oval and stout, at first a golden yellow 

 but subsequentlv changing to a reddish brown. The flies are pretty little 

 insects with two wings only, about half the size of the common house fly. 

 I'hey have very large and lustrous eyes, the thorax is mottled with grey 

 and black, and the abdomen is of a brownish yellow and crossed by thin 

 stripes of a silvery grey colour. The wings are large and simple. They 

 are transparent, strongK \eined, and marked \y\ several clouded bands of 

 grev and vellow colour. In walking the fl\ always carries its wings 

 in a drooping attitude. It is a very difficult thing to find the fly 

 in an infected orchard, although they may be present in large numbers. If 

 however a maggoty peach be put aside in a box for a few weeks the flies 

 can be reared and easily obser\ed."" 



Explanation of Coloured Plate (Drawn from Nature). 



Fig. Description. 



1. Mediterranean Fruit Fl\'. Natural size. 



2. Mediterranean Fruit V\\. Enlarged. 



3. Larva of Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Natural size. 



4. Larva of Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Enlarged. 



5. Pupa case of Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Natural size. 



6. Pupa case of Mediterranean Fruit Fh-. Enlarged. 



7. Queensland Fruit Fh', variety (.'ucumis. Natural size. 



8. Queensland Fruit Fly. P^nlarged. 



9. Larva of Queenslanil Fruit Fly Natural size. 



10. Larva of Queensland Fruit Fly. Enlarged. 



11. Pupa case of Queensland Fruit Fly. Natural size. 



12. Pupa case of Queensland Fruit Fly, Enlarged. 



13. Peach showing larvic of Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Natural size. 



14. New Hebrides Fruit Fly. Natural size. 



15. New Hebrides Fruit Fly. Enlarged. 



It has frequently been stated in Queensland and New South Wales 

 that the flies will not attack green fruit. This is a mistake, as I have 

 on ma,n\' occasions proved eggs to have been deposited in green bananas 

 before shipment, as no half- ripe bananas are ever shipped from Queens- 

 land to Melbourne. This fl\ would appear to be more numerous than are 

 the other kinds here mentioned. No less than 60 adult specimens^ have 

 been reared at our office from two specimens of the bitter or Sevil It- 

 oranges which had been sent from one of the northern ports of Queens- 

 land. The indications of the presence of the fruit-fly larvae in such fruits 

 as the citrus family are, although easily detected by the practised eye, 

 upon the whole not well defined. The skin of oranges, lemons, and 

 limes being more ox less of a rough granulated texture renders the task 

 of finding the infected fruit, where large consignments have to be handled, 

 bv no means an easy one. 



In Victoria, at least, it is astounding with what rapidit\ this fly 

 destroys the fruit in the orchard, only a few days, in the case of peaches, 

 elapsing before the whole of it is rendered unfit for human consumption, it, 

 the fruit, being absolutely decomposed and discolonred. In Victoria, our 

 experience has taught us that the first fruit to be attacked are apricots, 

 then peaches, then, as the broods hatch from the ground, other fruits, 

 as apples, pears, persimmons, &c.. are attacked in succession. From obser- 

 vations miade in the field, I am speaking of the nurth-east part of Victoria, 



